KARACHI: The chief of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has disclosed the company’s ambitious plans of making it an integrated energy company, eliminating the role of the middlemen that would result in the savings of billions of rupees.

At a press conference here on Thursday, Naeem Yahya Mir, managing director and chief executive officer of PSO said the firm’s agreement with Pakistan National Shipping Corporation to transport furnace oil from foreign ports to Pakistani shores would save around Rs20 million.

He further said that a blending facility was being setup in Pakistan and PSO had been given the said blender contract for supplying one million tons of fuel. Mir further said the PSO was working on setting up a refining facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that would be commissioned within two and a half years.

Even though the state oil company is challenged by chronic liquidity crunch and alarmingly rising finance cost, Mir was optimistic in making the PSO a Fortune 500 company within six years, spreading its ambit to refining, shipping, insurance, marketing and distribution.

He said PSO was faced with a liquidity crunch due to the circular debt, adding that he hoped that the issues would be resolved soon.